Key to Adam: Globally Good

I’ve always been intrigued by snow globes. There’s something so magical about the mini mementos. Their historic context says they came about by accident: in the 1900’s, Erwin Perzy I, who was not the first to produce a globe but was the one who patented it, was attempting to make light bulbs brighter. He found that filling glass globes with water and configuring them in front of candles created a sort of spotlight, so he decided to add particles to the water that the light could potentially bounce off of, an effect that mimicked that of snowfall. Add a scene in the snow, and you have the successful souvenirs of today. Key to Adam is a globe of musical goodness.

Self-described as a melodic menagerie of music, Adam Moyer and Kiara Williams are a very captivating combo. From Upshur County, West Virginia, their music is a combination of Fingerstyle Guitar by Adam, and Fiddle/Violin by Kiara. Adam, who is also the Sound Technician at McNemar House, which hosts house shows among other things, and Kiara, who is the 2015 West Virginia State Youth Fiddle Champion and placed 3rd place at the Grand State Champions of Maryland, met at an open mic session in 2016 at Dough Re Mi in Buckhannon. The pair play at many places, including Festival Fridays, 3/4 Cafe, Stonewall Jackson Resort, Brewstel, Jerry Run Summer Theatre, hospitals, and weddings. “We’ll just show up random places,” Adam laughs.

Mr. Moyer began playing as a meditation technique in 2012. “I would play the same song for 45 minutes,” he recalls. He fell in love with finger-style guitar in 2014 and has since focused on that technique. The wonderful Ms. Williams has been playing for four years and includes Charlie Daniels as an influence. “I have a fiddle signed by him,” she beams.

Key to Adam appeals to a wide range of audiences by combining individual styles and by playing songs from a variety of genres including Old-Time Traditional, Cajun, Alternative, Rock, and Indie Folk. “We play an eclectic mix – everything from oldies to top 40 pop, spanning decades, entertaining young and old,” Adam adds. They’re also conscious of their creativity, which is why they’re a persistent presence during Wednesday’s Open Sessions at Dough Re Mi: “There is no open mics for young people, and this is an environment that is young people friendly, both time-wise and the overall setting,” Adam explains. It’s an atmosphere where people of all ages can “meet and create.”

Key to Adam cover all kinds of music, and create their own, and their instrumental inceptions are encapsulating. “Kiara comes up with notes that I wouldn’t even have considered,” Adam shares, and their next shows are April 28th at the Strand Pool Hall in Grafton and at the West Virginia Strawberry Festival May 18th – 21st. Like those who smize, or actors who act with their eyes, Key to Adam’s music can talk with no words. A globe has to be shaken to be activated, and from their cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters,” to their wonderful wedding contribution “Canon in D,” their sounds stir up a fluctuation of feelings – their music is moving, it creates a buzz with the beauty of it. Much like the water in a globe serves as the medium through which the snow falls, Key to Adam is is the medium in which great music is made. I think Perzy would be proud to know that, like his brightness experiments, these musicians also project light.